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Lcltew's Patent No. 66,345, dated Juli] 2^, l86'a'.` i

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY'CONCERN I Be itknown that I, WILLIAMH.' Houston, ot'New York, of the county ot' New York, in the State of 'New York; haveinvented certain new and useful improvcmcntsl in Apparntus'for Launchingor Lowering Overheard Small Boots; und I do hereby declare that thefollowing,r is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto `the.aceonfqxmyini drawings, making part of this application. Y Y

My inven'tion relates to the mechanism or device employed for effectingthe launching ot' life-boats from ships, and has foi' its objects toreadily and with certainty eiiect the rcleaseme'nt of the 'coat as soonit is fairly launched, And 'to theseends myinvention consists in anautomatic boat-eyeor lock, so constructed and operating that whenattached to the hook, by which the boat is suspended, it willautomatically disengagc or detach itself from said hook the moment theboat, or that part to which said lock is attached, rests fairly in thenat-er.

Toenablc those skilled in the art to make and use my-invention, I will`proceed to describe more fully the constnut'ion and operation Vof myautomatic or self-detaching liront-lockerl eye, referring by letters toAthe accompanying drawings, in which-Y l A i 4 f l Figure 1 is anelevation, illustrating a boat suspended ready to hc launched, aridhaving on it my invention.

Figure 2 is asimilar rien, showing the boat launched;v and lFigure 3 isa sectional elevation of the automatic or self-detaching device.A Figure4 isalsimilar section, showing another form ofmy invention. 1n theseveral, ligures, A is a. life-boat, and B is the arm or dni/it," `fromwhich the boatis suspended, by

means of the usual ropes C, passing through an eye in the outer end ofsaid arm B, and proiiided with a suitable hoek, d. .To each lend of thcboat may be' 'attached securely one .of roy-automatic locks, as seen atF,'iigs.` l and 2.'l This lock is composed of'ametnllic stock orl standportion, as shown at F, in which are arranged on' v each sidetwovertical and movable hars 7i l, (see figs. 2 and 3,) which are soarranged as to be capable of a. compound vibratory and sliding motion,being hung en pins S S, which pass through slots 1 2 in the said bars hZ. To one of these bars 'lis pivotod at n, (seeiig) a. pawl, P, which isformed :1t-one end to catch andere Vshoulder at o, (seo iig. 3,) in4theupper part of bark. The said hais h l are -formed with shoulders orprojections at v w, on which bear the opposite ends of a spring, m,which passes -under n. cross-bar or pin z', and which throws down thebars Il l in the manner and for -the purpose-to beprcsently'explained Uis asliding cam-bar 4,which raises thc bars h Z, and t o. catch or lockto hold said cam-.bnr in place.

' The operation of the seicral partstogcther may be thus explained: Thelparts being adjusted 'andl locked in the position seen at figs. 1 and',theordinary hook d is placed on the pejjl P, as seen at viigt 1. As soonas 'the boat is thus held-and suspended on the hooks, the catch t beingrasedout of the, notch in cam-bar v U,'thc latter is slid out, as seenat igf, when the pawl P andbars hf? will still retain their samerelative .positions in consequence of-the weight of the boat beingsuspended from the pawl P, and the boat muy-be lowered with 'perfectsafety, but just as soonasthe boat A i'e-sts in the water, as seen etiig. 2, so Athat the pawl P is relieved. ofv its weight, then the springm immediately forces downward the hars h l, which spread apart ordiverge om each other at theirl upper ends, as seen at iig. 2, so asterelease the end of pawl P from ,thebnr Il,

and allow the hoolc dito slide cti' of said pani and the bont to goiree.4 When itis .desired to lift the-boat, the lock mechanism should bere-adjusted to hold the hook d. VBy the arrangement'of the pins S S, andslots l and 2, and spring m, the hars can he moved downward and upwardin such a direction as to'sprcad open their upper ends and release thepawl P, os shownA and described. The said bars are'i'orecd up andtogcthcrhy means ofthe inclines or cam surfaces of the sliding-bar U,(see iig. 3.) It will be seen that with the automatic device describedthe boat A, `can be safely lowered, andthot the moment the boat restsfairly onthc water that moment she is completely released by theautomaticl operatonot' thc lock, ns already cnplnined. Anil it will beunderstood that in the use ofm'y'invcntion, if one end of the boatreaches the water first that end only will he let go, and the oiherwilllio let. go free as soonl esit rests on the water sufficiently totakethe weight ed' of' theropeat that end.

I At 5g. 4 have shoivn 'a modification of .the'apparatus, 'in which, inlieu. of two bars, I have only one har, and have the pani l? piyotcd atn in tholstock F of the lock., In this modification thespring n; is4attached.

explained. I

' fairly on 'thewatelg.substantially'ns hereixibefore described.

at one end toi the-moin stock of the lock, ond at its other end piesseson the shoulder 1. l This form of lock requires of' course ohly'o'ne.incline on the bar U; it ie si'qipler, and mty-be formedl to Work quiteas well as the other form,`shown 'in figs.' 1, 2, and 3.V It will bleunderstood that the detail form ,and varrangement o' the parts may hemodified in al great variety o l'jways without depaiting from lthe gistof myinvention, which is in the idea. of the automatically Working piwlor, catch-bm', or its eq'uimlent, so combined with a iovable bar ]4, orits equivalent, that the former will serve to hol thewater, and willlthan become iminediately. disengagedat its vibrating or loose end'sbstantially'as already .The combination of the cotdz-pawl P,locking-bar h, 'andsp'ring m, to operate as described-.uufthepurpose setforth.

I also claim an mltothzticl boat-eye or lock, so construct What I claimas new, AI zi'iCl-zlesi're to secune by vLetters Patent, is-

witll the locklframe, the v.v hole arrenged In testimony whereof Ivhave'hereunto set'my hund and seal .tliis 6thr day of May, 1867. v WM.H. HOUSTON. [L 5.]

Witnesses.;v

-WM. H. BISHOP, CHARLES ASmm.

dfast to the Vlowering ropes. hook 'until the boot rests on' edato'j'unlock when the Weight of the boat restev

